TUCSON, Ariz. -- There’s one thing, Arizona softball coach Mike Candrea wants everyone to know: It isn’t easy being a pitcher.
Even at a school where good -- make that excellent -- pitching has seemingly been a birthright. It’s one of the main reasons UA has eight NCAA titles in its storied history.
Roll call, please: Jennie Finch, Nancy Evans, Susie Parra, Alicia Hollowell, Taryne Mowatt, Alicia Hollowell, et al. Arizona’s MowDown Row.
Of that group, only Alicia Hollowell will be in the dugout for Arizona on Friday against No. 4 Oklahoma for the start of the NCAA Super Regionals -- but as an assistant coach, not as a pitcher.
So when Candrea speaks of UA junior pitcher Kenzie Fowler, he’s likely playing the role of sports psychologist or master motivator.
Whatever works.
He doesn't need Fowler to be Finch or Evans or any of the others. He needs Fowler to be the Fowler of old. He’ll need everyone else do their job for every inning, every pitch, of course, but he knows how important Fowler is to the Wildcats' hopes against the Sooners.
For Fowler, the key will be forgetting the past and living in the present while staying in control.
"With Kenzie, we want her to ... challenge," Candrea said. "That’s been the biggest thing (with her). As a pitcher, you know, in high school you could throw the ball by them. Now, you get that for two or three players, but in today’s game, with the technology and the bats and the hitters are better, it’s tough being a pitcher.
"There's small margin for error. You have to be pretty special to dominate the circle anymore."
Fowler used to do just that as one of the state’s best softball players -- ever -- out of Tucson’s Canyon del Oro High. Since arriving at Arizona, unfortunate injuries have stifled her progress. Fowler has been a bobbling cork at times in what she called an "up-and-down" season. She enters the Super Regional with a 15-8 record, a 2.72 ERA and 88 walks allowed in 117 innings, with many of those bases on balls putting her in jams she couldn’t escape.
But that hasn’t diminished her determination. Last weekend, entering the Tucson Regional having lost five of her last seven starts, Fowler limited Notre Dame to two runs in a 7-2 victory. The key? No walks.
Candrea will take that type of performance this weekend, although he's likely to split the pitchng chores between Fowler and sophomore Shelby Babcock (21-9).
"We both know we’ll be ready to go no matter what," Fowler said. "We give them different looks."
Candrea is looking for his pitchers to be strong-minded. There was a point, he said, where Fowler was determined to not allow anyone to get a hit. While that would be ideal, it's not very realistic. Instead, Candrea tried to change her mindset, telling her to let the defense help. Translation: You can’t defend walks.
"We want to eliminate the walks, giving ourselves a chance to play defense, and we will take whatever comes our way," Candrea said. "All we want from (Fowler) is to execute a good pitch, and whatever happens happens. Right now, she’s starting to gain some of that confidence back."
No time like the present. Fowler says she feels good, as does the team as it goes into a best-of-three series against the team that eliminated UA last year in the Super Regional. To advance, they'll have to get the best of Sooners pitcher Keilani Ricketts, 31-7 with a 1.05 earned run average and one of three finalists for national player of the year.
"We’re loose," Fowler said.
As difficult as that might seem, Fowler showed little hesitation. As she put it, she’s been an athlete "more than half my life," so she knows what Candrea wants and she knows what her team needs.
"Sometimes, as a player, you put more pressure on yourself," she said. "I think you are at your best when you play loose. I know it’s tough to be perfect. The fact of the matter is you’re not going to be perfect, and you can’t have that mentally."
So instead of being perfect, Fowler will attempt to balance Candrea’s simpler request to be tough mentally and physically.
"You can’t get too high or too low," she said. "That’s why I go into every game like I do every practice and apply it to all aspects of my life. It’s about being at the right spot for yourself."
